Some folks like barbecued ribs that are plump, meaty units, so juicy and tender that just waving a fork past them is enough to make them fall apart. Others prefer a chewier rib, with the meat close to the bone and full of smoke.

Then there are folks like me who can't make up our minds. Our motto is: “Love the rib you're with.”

Deb and David Hunter, who opened The Smokehouse BBQ in October, cater to all the various rib factions.

Their loin back ribs are meatier than any baby backs you've ever seen, every bone surrounded by a big irregularly shaped column of meat covered in a dark crust of bark that pulls away to reveal pink, juicy smoked meat (half-slab dinner with two sides, $12.95; whole slab, $19.95; sandwich with one side, $7.25).

Their spare ribs have a flat profile and proportionately more bark per bite — but are still pink, tender and juicy within ($11.95; $18.95; $6.49).

For me, making that kind of choice is pretty nearly impossible, so on a recent visit I ordered both — and even now I can't say I like one more than the other. There's an obvious solution: The Smokehouse menu needs to offer a Rib Combo meal with a quarter slab of each kind! Alas, that's not an option — yet.

There are some other combo options. You can order a quarter slab of either style rib along with pulled pork, pulled chicken, barbecued beef brisket or smoked turkey ($12.99), or you can mix and match two nonrib meats ($10.99).

Those other meats can hold their own against most of the barbecue in the city. The Smokehouse meats aren't as heavily saturated with smoke as you'd find at, say, Jucy's (7626 La Grange Road, Pewee Valley), but the brisket (dinner, $9.95, sandwich, $7.45) has the exquisite pink smoke ring that signals long, slow cooking by a master smoker. (Years ago, I'm told, David Hunter was in the barbecue business in Bedford, Ky.) And the smoked turkey — big, chunky slabs of hand-carved white meat — is robust and moist.

Housed in what was once a chain restaurant, The Smokehouse offers a comfortable mix of wood-paneled booths and tables; windows are dressed in cheery cafe curtains. Country music dominates the soundtrack (and glasses that look like Mason jars reinforce the rustic theme). Every table is adorned with a vertical roll of paper towels and a basket holding an assortment of sauces that run the gamut from slightly sweet to habanera hot.

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Servers are about as enthusiastic and well informed as you could wish — not surprising, given that this is a true mom-and-pop operation with the owners actively involved in running the place.

Meat is of the essence. Besides the items mentioned above, the menu includes a 12-ounce sirloin ($13.95); smoked chicken ($8.85 for half the bird); an enormous burger built of two 1/3-pound patties of beef ($7.75); and a fried walleye sandwich ($9).

But side dishes aren't slighted. A big bowl of soupy collard greens was outstanding; a generous portion of cauliflower and broccoli was steamed to tender perfection; and a helping of fried potatoes and onions — the “potato of the day” was calculated to cause plenty of carbohydrate overloading.

A stickler for such things might argue that the house-made “coconut cream pie” is not, strictly speaking, a pie at all. It's more like a deep-dish ramekin filled with super-sweet coconut pudding that rests on a hard-baked crust base — and even the most sugar-smitten appetites will likely find that one serving is enough for four people.